Can mental health promotion make your employees happier at work?

26 September 2013

Can mental health promotion make your employees happier at work?

Promoting well-being at work has positive effects on
staff.

London South Bank University were commissioned by Kings Health Partners (KHP) to analyse the results of an employee survey which set out to establish levels of staff wellbeing and mental disorder before and after a series of happier@work mental health promotion interventions. These activities included
Mental Well-being Impact Assessment workshops, mindfulness training courses, stress awareness training courses and mental health awareness training for line managers.

Mean wellbeing scores for respondents improved significantly from baseline to follow-up survey and there was a significant improvement in psychological health scores. Sixty-three participants at baseline and 11 participants at follow-up showed symptoms of potential psychological disorder and there
was a decrease between the baseline and follow-up surveys in the number of individuals who felt that they needed additional support for their wellbeing in the workplace. It may be that simply providing interventions aimed at improving people's ability to cope with issues in the workplace was enough to
improve participants' mental wellbeing.

Participants noted that the happier@work initiative made them feel that the Trust cared about their wellbeing and work performance. The mental health awareness training for line managers showed particularly positive effects, with 95% reporting a better understanding of workplace-based services for
mental health. These results point to what addressing wellbeing in the workplace can do, as the other interventions were delivered at an individual level, rather than from an organisational perspective.